Abe Family Residence Front Storehouse

About the Abe Family Residence Front Storehouse

The Abe Family Residence Front Storehouse (阿部家住宅前の蔵, Abe-ke Jūtaku Mae-no-kura) is a two-storey clay-walled dozo storehouse from the late Edo period (1830 to 1867 in the national database) at the south-east corner of the Abe family estate in Kayaba, Sasagino, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2008.

The Abe Family Residence Front Storehouse measures 7.8 by 5.2 metres, with a building area of 41 m², and its ridge runs east to west. The gabled roof is an Okiyane, a separate roof set over the body of the storehouse, and is now covered in sheet metal. Sheet-metal eaves (Hisashi) run along the north and west sides, and the door is in the west gable.

The Oldest Building on the Estate

It is the only one of the nine registered buildings that goes back to the Edo period. The Meiji storehouses and guest wing, the Taisho stone and brick storehouses and the main house of 1953 all came later. Houses were replaced around it, but this storehouse has held the south-east corner throughout.

The name, front storehouse, presumably refers to its position on the street side of the estate. No source explaining the name has been found.

The Abe Family Residence Front Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Its corner position is what shapes the view from the road.

White Walls, a Black Band

The storehouse stands on a base of cut stone, and its walls are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster. Only the Hachimaki, the thick band that wraps the top of the walls under the eaves, is picked out in black plaster. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls this the accent of the exterior.

An okiyane leaves a gap between wall and roof. If the roof burned it could fall away while the fireproof body survived, and in summer the roof's heat does not pass straight into the store. The sheet-metal covering is presumably a later replacement, but when it was fitted is not known.

Note too that the door faces west, into the estate. The walls towards the road on the east and south are blank, and the store is entered from the household side.

Seeing the Abe Family Residence Front Storehouse

The Abe Family Residence Front Storehouse belongs to a private home and its interior is not open. Fukushima Prefecture's heritage list also states that interior photography is not permitted.

Standing at the south-east corner, it is one of the easier buildings on the estate to see from the road. The contrast of white walls and black band reads best from a little distance, with the whole storehouse in view. Please photograph only from the public road. Directions are on the Abe Family Residence page.